Hitachi Cable has announced the development and release
of extended distance Active Optical HDMI cables, which
transmit image signals through optical fibers for
digital signage. Sales of this product will start in
June.

Digital signage, in which large format
high definition thin displays are used as signboards,
has become common in recent years in public and
commercial facilities. The cables used in digital
signage must be compatible with high speed interfaces
such as HDMI in order to display high resolution images.
Unlike ordinary consumer household metal HDMI cables
that have short transmission lengths of 10 meters or
less, commercial signage applications require long
transmission distances, and in some cases requires UL
Plenum rated cable.

Hitachi Cable has developed long and thin Active Optical
HDMI cables which transmit full HD image signals via
optical fibers, and will introduce them to the market in
June.

The Active Optical HDMI cable being released has a
built-in photoelectric converter in the connector.
Hitachi Cable developed this small photoelectric
converter using the active optical component
technologies that the company has accumulated through
the development of various optical devices; and has
mounted it within the connector to realize the same
handling as ordinary HDMI connectors.

Hitachi Cable used optical fiber as the high-speed
signal wire in the cable, realizing up to 100 meters of
transmission distance, and achieved a small outer
diameter of 5.9 mm by using a correction circuit for the
low speed signal wire to prevent signal attenuation. The
cable is also Plenum rated and compliant with the fire
resistance standard UL444, which is required in the
United States for wiring in spaces with a constant air
flow due to air handling, such as under floors in data
centers, and plenum areas in commercial buildings.

Hitachi Cable aims at producing even longer and thinner
Active Optical HDMI, and other high-speed data cables,
to expand the product lineup as quickly as possible.